Fungi, Bug & Tree Frog Netsuke
Properties:
2010 - 2011
Type: Netsuke
Sold. Japan, private collection. All funds from the sale of this Netsuke were donated as relief measures to the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Materials: Red deer antler. Amber, mother-of-pearl, buffalo horn, red coral, gold ringed cowry shell and cypress wood inlay.
Dimensions: 45×22×19 mm.
Weight: 12.4 g.
The fungi wants to eat a tree. A bug wants to eat the fungi. A frog wants to eat a bug. A tree will eat a frog after her death. There is no energy in this world that someone would not like to absorb. Who wants to absorb our emotions?
Netsuke is carved from antlers of red deer (Cervus elaphus). Frog eyes are inlaid with Baltic amber.
Beetle wings are made of a black oyster's shell (Pinctada margaritifera). Whiskers are carved from a black buffalo's horn.
One butt of the stump is closed with a slice of wood from a very old cedar.
Two mystery spots from the Mediterranean Red Coral and the Gold Ringed Cowry (Cypraea annulus) shell.
Signature on amber insert is inside the stump cavity.